


Of Mountains and OJ

by lakesandquarries



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: F/F, Probably Canon Divergent, fifteen minute fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-08
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-18 14:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1432555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lakesandquarries/pseuds/lakesandquarries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dana’s first meeting with Maureen was brief.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Mountains and OJ

Dana’s first meeting with Maureen was brief. Maureen was still holding a cup, the last drops of orange juice clinging to the rim, flickering in and out of existence before settling. Dana looked at the red shirt signifying an NVCR intern, her still-new nametag, and smiled. Maureen stared at the figure in front of her- the dark skin, curly hair, red shirt, faded name tag that now read “d n “- and her eyes widened.  
“Are you Dana?” she asked. Dana nodded, and Maureen flickered again. She opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment she flickered out of existence.  
Dana sighed. Once again, she was trapped, alone, on a mountain she did not believe was real.  
Still. Perhaps this new girl, her name tag still fresh and readable, maybe she would come again.   
\---  
Dana and Maureen’s second meeting was longer, but not much.  
Maureen flickered into existence a foot away from Dana, and she looked significantly less scared and confused. “Dana?” she asked, and Dana nodded again, smiled.   
“Hello,” she said, because she did not know what else to say.  
“Cecil says hi,” Maureen offered.  
“I know. I’ve been able to hear the radio. You’re Maureen, right?”  
Maureen blushed a bit, adjusting her glasses, ran her fingers through her dark gold hair. “Yes,” she replied.   
“Its nice to meet you,” Dana said, holding out her hand. They shook. Maureen flickered, but then stopped. The effort of staying here seemed to pain her, but she choked out a “I’ll see you again” before vanishing.  
Next time she saw Maureen, Dana told herself, she would try to teach the girl how to control her existence.   
\---  
Next time did not come for a while, and when it did, Maureen didn't seem to need much help. Her appearance was less of the gradual flickering, and more of a sudden presence.   
“Hello, Dana!” she greeted.  
“You seem excited-no, optimistic. What has you so optimistic?” It had been 17 days since she had last seen Maureen, Dana noted to herself. The interval between her first and second visit had only been 8 days.  
“I saw my family,” Maureen said, her smile bright and wide. “I saw my mother, and my little sister, and my father, and they were okay. They were all okay, and while only my sister could see me, she passed on my messages.”   
“Thats wonderful,” Dana said, doing her best to keep her envy out of her voice. Maureen wasn't done, though.  
“I also asked her if she could talk to your family. They said to tell you they love you and are proud. I told them that you were okay.”  
A smile- a genuine, excited-no, optimistic- an optimistic smile made its way onto Dana’s face.  
Things would be okay.  
\---  
Maureen got better at controlling her flickers. She visited Dana nearly every day.   
It was nice, having company. And Maureen herself was wonderful. She had a laugh like a river, and she and Dana spent long hours walking and exchanging stories- of Khoshekh, of pets, of siblings, of neighbors- or they would walk in silence, just enjoying the presence of another human. They had been doing this for about 6 weeks (43 days, specifically) when Dana had felt Maureens hand find hers.   
She glanced over at her. Maureen was bright red. Dana leaned over and kissed her forehead.  
Maureen looked at her, her yellow-gold eyes staring straight into Dana’s brown. Maureen stood on her tiptoes, Dana leaned over, and Maureen kissed her nose. She pulled back, embarrassed, but Dana kissed her nose back, and, laughing, the two collapsed in a heap under a tree.  
They did not walk anymore that day. Instead they talked and kissed and cuddled until Dana began to fall asleep, her head in Maureen’s lap.  
When she woke up, Maureen was still there.  
“You’re still here,” she whispered. The sky was still dark, moon still watching the two on the nonexistent mountain, and Maureen said nothing back, just smiled, and Dana understood perfectly.  
She kissed Maureen again, and the two set off.

**Author's Note:**

> written based on a prompt from my english teacher: "Have you ever befriended someone simply because he or she looked like he needed a friend? Describe your experience."  
> i went in a very different direction.


End file.
